Japan's Fujifilm to halt enrollment in Avigan trial for COVID-19

A drug once hailed as Japan's biggest contribution in the global fight against COVID-19 suffered another setback on Friday, as Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it was halting enrolment in a clinical trial of the pill, Avigan. The emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which usually causes milder infections, made it tough to determine the drug's effectiveness in preventing severe symptoms, the company said in a statement. Clinical data from patients already enrolled in the trial will continue to be analysed, it said.